Crystals and Hearts
by MetaBlade
Summary: They all came into his life in different ways, but they all played an equally important role in it. He might not understand everything about them, and they might not understand him, but he treasured them anyway. (A collection of mini-stories, each focusing on one of the partner characters in TTYD. See A/N for details.)
1. A New Friend

**A/N: ****So, I just finished a playthrough of TTYD and combined with all the Fatguy703 videos I've been binge-watching lately, it's put me in a mood to write Paper Mario stories.**

**This story will have (probably) six chapters, focusing on Mario's relationships with his partners in TTYD. I probably won't be doing a chapter with Ms Mowz, but I might consider it if enough people want to see that.**

**A couple of things to mention before you start:**

**1\. Mario is mute in this story.**

**2\. Some scenes here will be based on scenes from the game, and as a result, some dialogue will be based on the game dialogue. However, it will not be exactly the same, because I'm too lazy to look up the game scripts.**

**(I was originally planning to only post this on AO3 because that site is arguably a lot easier to use, but I'm going to try and post it here too for the benefit of my FF followers.)**

* * *

Mario jerked his head up as a feminine yell, torn between panic and indignation, rang out across the harbour. The atmosphere felt charged with danger, and he wondered if someone was being robbed. Was this really what Rogueport was like? He'd listened to the boat captain's ramblings about the shady town – or some of them, at least – but he hadn't expected to hear panicked shouts from the very moment he stepped off the boat.

A nervous glance over his shoulder told him that the boat in question was already long gone. Well, the captain probably didn't want to stick around, if this was how things were around here.

A growling voice followed the girl's yell. For a split second, he thought it must be Bowser, but then common sense kicked in to dispel the idea. As far as he knew, Bowser was still at home, ruling over the fiery badlands and no doubt terrorising the residents of Toad Town with his presence. There was no reason for him to even consider coming to this place.

Nonetheless, that voice had been almost as rough as the Koopa King's, and Mario had no qualms about running into the harbour to investigate. He might not know what was going on, but it was clear that someone was being threatened or attacked and his instinct to help the defenceless had never led him astray before.

He eased himself through a gap between two heavy wooden crates and gazed upon the strange scene before his eyes. A bulky figure wearing a purple cape was squaring up to a small Goomba girl. He had no idea who the caped man was, or even what species he was. But that wasn't important, he decided. Taking a deep breath, he left the safety of the crates and started to walk purposefully towards them.

'Don't play stupid, girl,' growled the caped man, raising a gauntlet-clad fist. 'We've seen you in town, asking about the Crystal Stars. Now you're going to come with us and tell us _everything_ you know!'

'H-hey! Back off, you freaks! I'll scream, I swear!'

The Goomba took a hasty step backwards, her eyes darting around in search of an escape route. Unfortunately, the only exit seemed to be a crumbling archway at the top of a crest of stone stairs, and the caped man was blocking the way.

Mario edged up to the Goomba girl, hoping that if the caped man saw him standing with her, then he might have second thoughts about attacking.

But then the girl spotted him. Her expression shifted from anger to surprise and then relief in the span of two seconds, and before he could react, she had dashed behind him.

'Like I'd ever go _anywhere _with you creeps! Urgh!'

Mario blinked, finding himself suddenly face-to-face with the caped man who obviously wasn't pleased by this interruption. He let out a quiet sigh, ran a hand down his face in exasperation, and dropped into a combat stance. Just another fight like any other. He'd dared to hope that he might be able to meet Princess Peach and enjoy a nice relaxing vacation without having to battle anyone, but it seemed the world had different plans for him, as usual.

'Oh, so you want to fight, do you?' the man exclaimed. 'You wanna do this the hard way?'

_Not really, but you're not giving me a choice._

'Hey, mister!' piped up the Goomba girl from behind him. 'Don't worry about this guy, you can take him easily! You've got a hammer, right? Just hit him with that!'

The simple wooden hammer, a souvenir from a past adventure, had already found its way into Mario's gloved hands. He made a couple of practice swings at the air, then grimly charged at the caped man with a sweeping blow intended to knock his legs out from underneath him.

It connected with a solid _thunk, _and the man yelled out in pain as he crashed to the ground. Before Mario could bring the hammer down again, the Goomba girl ran past, thumping against his side to catch his attention. 'C'mon!' she cried. 'We can get out this way!'

Leaving the caped man moaning quietly on the grimy tarmac, Mario leapt after her, taking the steps two or three at a time. They passed through the crumbling archway and made their way into what looked like a bustling town centre. He let out his breath in a sigh of relief as the crowds swallowed them up. Even if the strange man gave pursuit, the chances of him spotting them here were minimal.

The Goomba girl seemed intent on getting as far away as possible, and led him over to a stack of abandoned crates piled up behind a rotting fence. She didn't stop running until they were hidden behind the crates and she had glanced around to make sure they weren't being followed.

Then, at last, she turned her attention to Mario.

'Hey, you totally saved me back there!' she said. 'I never would've been able to take those freaks by myself.'

Out of breath from chasing after her – just _how_ did a small Goomba manage to outpace him? - Mario simply smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but that wasn't anything new. Most strangers reacted the same way when they met him. Some of them learned to deal with it. Others never did.

'Yeah, so... thanks,' she said. 'Anyway, what's your name? Wait, I don't need to ask that, do I? You're _clearly _the famous Mario!'

He nodded, a little ruefully. That also wasn't anything new to him.

'So, what are you doing here? You're like, the last person I'd expect to run into in a place like this. This town's just _full_ of criminals and weirdos.'

As he racked his brains for a way to explain his story to her, he was rescued by Toadsworth, who emerged from a nearby inn looking harried and breathless. Leaning heavily on his stick, the elderly Toad quickly briefed them on what had happened, including the very thing Mario had been dreading all along; Princess Peach had gone missing. And that was the moment when everything in his mind fell apart into chaos, and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was _not _going to be having anything close to a relaxing vacation.

* * *

The sweet-scented air of Petal Meadows assaulted Mario's nostrils, waking him up with a start. A little disorientated, he sat up and glanced around. He'd fallen asleep with his back resting comfortably against a tree trunk, thankfully in a place with no hostile Goombas or Koopas in earshot. His snoring could have alerted every enemy within a half-mile radius to their location.

Yawning, he reached out lazily and tapped Goombella's hat, causing the girl to jolt awake. 'Hey, what time is it?' she asked, eyes going to the horizon as she blinked dazedly.

He shrugged – how was he supposed to respond to that? - but to his relief, Goombella promptly answered her own question.

'Looks like late afternoon – the sun's almost down. We should probably get going, Mario.' Her voice held a note of worry, and it made him wonder if she truly trusted him to beat Hooktail without both of them ending up burned or swallowed by the fearsome creature. She hadn't seemed to believe him when he mentioned that he'd faced worse enemies before.

Digging in the pocket of his overalls, he pulled out his Mailbox SP, a small handheld device that could be used to receive messages from people anywhere in the world. However, most of the messages he got nowadays were spam, and besides, he had discovered a much better use for the device – communicating with his allies.

While Goombella observed him through sleepy-yet-curious eyes, he started to tap out something on the keyboard as fast as possible. When he was finished, he turned the Mailbox around so that she'd be able to read the text on the screen.

**_We probably shouldn't go to Hooktail's Castle right now,_** it said. It's getting late. **_We don't wanna be stuck there after dark._**

'Ooh, I didn't think about that...' Goombella's expression shifted into one even more worried than before. All of a sudden, she moved, jumping up onto a raised area of grass and gazing across the plains. Wildflowers in every colour imaginable scattered the landscape like stars in a night sky, filling the air with a dizzying array of different scents. It wasn't hard to see why this place had been named Petal Meadows. Before he could ask what she was looking for, she said, 'Where's Koops, by the way? I thought he was with us.'

**_He went back to Petalburg for the night,_** Mario typed, showing her the message. This method of communication might be slow and cumbersome, but when the alternative was scrawling out messages in the dirt... **_I think he wanted to say goodbye to his girlfriend._**

All of this had happened long after Goombella had fallen asleep. Mario had stayed awake for a while after that, leaning against his tree and listening to Koops rambling nervously about why it was so important for him to play a part in defeating Hooktail. At some point, Mario had mentioned that they probably wouldn't have time to storm the dragon's lair today, and Koops had decided to return to Petalburg to spend a few hours in the company of his friends and girlfriend before tomorrow dawned.

He understood why. Koops was scared that it would be his last chance to see all of them.

Mario had no intention of letting either of his partners get hurt in the battle ahead. That just wasn't the way he did things. It was fine for _him _to get hurt; that was what he expected after years of fighting to save Princess Peach time and time again. But letting bad things happen to his friends was something he couldn't allow, and when he failed in his efforts, the guilt always gnawed at him for days, even though nobody ever blamed him.

After a few minutes of silence, Goombella spoke up again. The concern in her voice was gone, to be replaced by a quiet pensiveness.

'Hey, Mario... d'you mind if I ask you a couple of questions? It won't be anything weird, I promise.'

Recognising her researcher's need to get answers to everything she didn't know, Mario just nodded, a faint smile curling up underneath his mustache.

'I was just wondering... why don't you, like, ever talk? Not that I think it's bad or anything, but you have to admit it's kinda strange.'

He looked up from the Mailbox to see her gaze fixed on him with the intensity of a scientist examining a rare artifact. He didn't know how to respond.

**_It's just how I am,_** he typed. He knew it wasn't a good response, and it would do nothing to satisfy her boundless curiosity. But it was something, at least. And he had a feeling that Goombella was kind enough not to question him further.

Sure enough, he saw frustration flash across her face for a brief second, but it was quickly replaced by understanding. 'Well, I won't go on about it,' she said breezily, sitting down on the cool grass and shifting her gaze to the sun setting over the hills. 'It's your business, not mine. But if you ever _want _to talk about it, then just know that I'm all ears, OK?'

He smiled and nodded, closing the top of the Mailbox SP and slipping it back into his pocket to show that he was done talking for now. He didn't enjoy conversation, even with close friends, the people he trusted most in the world. No, he would much rather sit in companionable silence with her until it was time for them to storm the castle.

When he glanced up a few minutes later, Goombella's eyes were closed, her head tilted back and her blonde ponytail splashed across the grass. He chuckled quietly and leaned back against the tree trunk, letting his own eyes slide shut and his body relax. They had a long, hard fight ahead of them, but he wouldn't let himself worry about it just yet, not when the nights in Petal Meadows were so very peaceful. He'd intended to walk back to Petalburg and find an inn to stay at, but all such thoughts fled his mind now. It was nice out here, he decided. There was no harm in spending the night outside beneath the stars.


	2. A Matter of Confidence

**A/N: Koops chapter! I admit, I never got that invested in Koops as a character, but I still enjoyed writing this. Next chapter should be Flurrie's.**

**I also realised that the formatting I'd been using for Mario's 'speech' didn't show up on FF for some reason, so I've changed it to bolded italics in both this chapter and the last one. Hopefully it's easier to read now.**

* * *

Hooktail Castle was every bit as horrifying as everyone said, but not – Mario quickly figured out – for the same reasons.

Yes, the prospect of facing a twenty-foot-tall, fire-breathing dragon didn't exactly make his day, but he wasn't scared. Not of Hooktail. Years of fighting Bowser and countless other deadly opponents had hardened him to the idea of being in danger, and although he remained wary and watchful, he didn't let his nerves overwhelm him anymore.

No, the thing that _truly _horrified him was the state of the castle itself. Dank floors and crumbling walls, mould and moss, and a damp smell that lingered in every room, clinging to the piles of ancient bones that lay heaped in the corners. As if the filth wasn't bad enough, there were also Dead Bones in here; reanimated skeletons that stumbled to their feet and chased after him when he got too close. Luckily, they weren't tough opponents to beat, but they _were _kind of disgusting.

Mario didn't have much time to think about how much he hated this place, because most of his attention was occupied with looking out for his new ally, Koops. The timid Koopa was desperate to fight Hooktail, both to avenge his dead father and to save his village. But personal desires had a lot to do with it, too; Mario suspected that all Koops really wanted was to become stronger and impress his girlfriend back home.

Not that he cared either way. Both Goombella and Koops had their own reasons for wanting to accompany him, and he certainly wasn't going to be their judge. He was just happy to have some company as they roamed the damp, grimy floors of the dragon's lair.

Standing on tiptoes, he tried to inspect a stone platform that was just slightly out of his reach. There was a badge up there, one that might be useful when the time came to fight Hooktail – but he had no idea how to access it. He could jump high, but not _that_ high.

'Um, M-Mario? Wait up a second,' said a low, nervous voice from just behind him. Mario turned, nearly falling, and saw Koops leaning against the railing, one hand rubbing the back of his neck, his eyes averted.

'I-I don't want to say this, but, um...' He fumbled for a moment. 'I'm kinda having second thoughts about this whole thing. I mean, sure, I really do want to beat Hooktail, but do you actually think we can do it? She's a giant dragon, Mario. She might just kill us the second we find her. And, well, I've been thinking a lot about my friends back home, and how much they must be worrying about us, and I _really _don't want to make them worry, you know? They'll be so upset if we both die here, but...'

Mario sighed, torn between exasperation and amusement, and raised a hand to cut off Koops mid-ramble.

'Um, yeah, sorry,' said the timid Koopa, flailing. 'I just needed to get all of that off my chest. I'm not gonna give up or anything.'

Mario considered for a moment. Then he beckoned Koops over to a comfortable-looking spot at the top of the staircase, where the carpeting looked dry and there wasn't any mould. He sat down on the uppermost stair and made a quick gesture, inviting Koops to join him as he pulled out his Mailbox SP.

'What is it, Mario?'

He tapped out a response, aware of Koops fidgeting anxiously beside him.

**_It's OK to be scared,_** he typed.

Silence.

**_We all get scared sometimes,_** he added.

'But not _you, _right?' said Koops, with a short nervous laugh. 'I mean, you're the famous Mario! Rescuer of princesses! Defender of the helpless! There's no way you could ever get as scared as I do.'

Mario's shoulders shifted in a minuscule shrug. Koops looked away, still absent-mindedly rubbing the back of his head. Not for the first time, Mario took in his partner's battered appearance; the bruises, the scrapes, the bandage across his nose. He had always been curious as to how a seemingly cautious boy could end up with so many minor injuries.

**_What happened to your nose?_** he typed. He had to practically wave the Mailbox in Koops's face before he responded.

'Huh? Oh, this... Well, I'm really clumsy, and sometimes I get hurt doing stupid stuff. It's fine.'

Mario raised an eyebrow.**_ Like what?_**

'Well... just silly things, honestly. A while ago, I tried to take on a whole gang of hostile Koopas to protect Koopie Koo – that didn't go too well.' With a careful movement, he peeled away the bandage to reveal a raw, barely-healed scrape across his nose. It stood out stark-red against his yellow, scaly skin, and would probably leave a scar. Mario winced sympathetically. 'Yeah... it wasn't pretty.'

**_Did you beat them?_** Mario couldn't help but ask.

'Not really. I mean, there were three of them. I managed to flip the first one onto his back and bruised him pretty badly, but then the other two overpowered me. Koopie Koo jumped in to protect me... even though _I_ was trying to protect _her.' _A hint of fondness passed over Koops's face before dissolving into a hard-edged melancholy. 'She got her wrist broken. We ran. She's almost healed already, but I'm having a hard time forgiving myself for letting her get hurt.'

Now it was Mario's turn to avert his gaze, his heart thumping fast in his chest. He perfectly understood how Koops felt. Failing to protect his friends was probably the thing he dreaded most. Seeing Peach, Luigi, or anyone else he cared about getting hurt because he couldn't save them was like a waking nightmare to him, something he worked tirelessly to prevent.

Koops had a similar way of thinking. He wanted to do whatever was necessary to protect his friends. But he just didn't have the strength or courage to do it, and that must be tearing him apart inside.

All of a sudden, he felt a huge wave of empathy and affection for his newest friend.

**_Hey,_** he typed, **_it takes time to be good at things. I won't say 'practice makes perfect' because that's just silly. Nobody is EVER perfect. But if you keep trying, you can get better. Better at fighting? Better at talking? Just be patient, and it'll come eventually._**

He finished by reaching over to lightly pat Koops's shelled back. Then, feeling a little embarrassed for having said so much, he snapped the Mailbox shut and looked away. The staircase was long, and he found himself staring at a pile of bones near the bottom with much more intensity than he probably should have been.

After an uncomfortable pause, Koops shifted.

'...Thanks, Mario,' he said at last, his voice low enough to be barely audible but carrying a hint of genuine gratitude that made Mario turn back around. 'That actually kinda helped. I guess I just need to remind myself sometimes that... things are OK. I don't need to worry so much; as long as I keep working to get better, then I _will _get better.'

A tentative smile twitched under Mario's mustache, but Koops, ever the shy one, wasn't looking at him, and so didn't notice.

'So, uhm, thanks,' he finished, clearly flustered but happy. 'Now let's get to the top of this castle, beat up Hooktail, and grab that Crystal Star you're looking for.'


End file.
